Being Nosey

Château Coussin Sainte-Victoire Côte de Provence 2015 Absolutely lovely nose of sweet florals and bright berries. Notes of citrus. Bone dry and lean. Bright acidity, nice fleshy mouth feel despite its light body. Salty mineral finish.

Chateau des Labourbons Fleurie 2013. Lovely sweet floral nose. Sweet blackcurrant notes as well laced with a bit of dusty minerality. Light-bodied and medium acidity. Tasty sour cherry with a spicy mid palate. There's a nice streak of minerality too. Low tannins as Fleurie wines usually are.

Barolo with family. Lovely rose petal, baking spices, intense blackcurrant nose. Smells wonderful. Light/medium body, sour black cherry flavours, intensely fruity palate. Good complexity and high acidity. Medium level of sticky tannins. Only fault is that the finish falls off a cliff.

Kendall-Jackson Vinter's Reserve Zinfandel Mendocio County 2013 - Intense nose of berries and spice. Medium body with tart mouth-watering acidity. Very fruit forward with plenty of spice and complexity in the mid palate. It is dry with fine tannins that dry the tongue. A little too acidic for my tastes.

Deep Orangey red color. Fresh fruity aroma with a wonderful mineral undercurrent. Muted fruit flavors with prominent mineral profile. Moderate acidity. Very dry.

Smells great! Tropical and perfumed, Asian pears with sweet mineral undertone. Moderate acidity, spare and dry. Pretty mineral centric flavour. Medium body. Could use a little more something in the mid palate.

Surprisingly full-bodied for a rose! This rose had plenty of dusty minerality coming through the nose along with sweet fruity flavours. It had great bracing acidity but might be a little too much for some. Nice and dry.

A pretty pale white with a fantastic tropical nose of ripe peach and sweet pear. It's reminiscent of a sweet scented viognier. It has a nice balance of acidity (a pleasant zing) and a bit of sweetness; I would still categorize it as dry, though. The wine is also has an attractive minerality that lingers in the finish for a lengthy time. Really great summer wine to sip on the balcony.

Intensely fruity nose with nice oaked flavours. Nice sharp acidity with a good mid-palate. The tannins are not overbearing, but pleasant and fuzzy. Really nice wine overall. Light to medium body.

Baco Noir is also an interesting in that it is a hybrid of old (Vintis vinifera) and new world (Vintis riparia) grape species. Neat!

This one has a great intense floral bouquet that leaps out of the glass. Belying the sweet fragrance, it's actually bone dry in the palate. Medium-bodied with a nice viscosity and mouthfeel. A little too acidic and feels a rough going down as result. Nice salt minerality. 

Nose is bright notes of green apple and citrus with pleasant spice. Sweet, as Kabinetts are, and it has a great fleshy texture. It has a nice acidity to balance out the sweetness and a full mid palate. A touch sweeter than I prefer, but still a nicely balanced, quaffable wine.

Light bodied red, quite acidic and very dry. The tannins are pronounced and rough; even with aeration, this was not smooth. Nose is dark fruit with a bit of anise. Not terribly interesting. The acidity is a little too overwhelming in the palate for my tastes. Although, on the second day, it was a good pairing for the butter fried garlic in a ribeye steak dinner. 

This smells fantastic. Intense red fruit mingling with baking spices and oak and heavy perfume. It's difficult to pull my nose out of the glass. It's a light bodied wine, but it's incredible how much flavour is packed in there. Tons of spice, poignant acidity, wonderful perfume. The tannins soft, fine-grained and well-integrated with the acidity. Yum, absolutely delicious.

Despite the hugely sweet nose, there is a lot of leather and tobacco earthniess in the palate. Good bit of spice. The fruit is juicy. I had a first impression of savouriness in the fruit, but that's maybe because I had been eating other things before drinking the wine. The tannins are fine grained and supple with a well-balanced acidity. Medium to full bodied. Very nice wine.

The attack is immediately sour. It's a little disconcerting considering that you're smelling chocolate right up until you take that first sip. The taste is of juicy black fruit; blackcurrant, possibly? In the mid-palate, with a bit of air, the wine releases a lovely floral perfume in the mouth. The tannins are present, but the acidity is the main force here. Medium bodied. The acidity might be a bit overwhelming for some, but for me, this wine is one of my favourites tasted this year.

Nose has a nice green apple and citrus aroma. Piercing in its acidity. The attack is mineral and fleshy, with the mid palate showing a strong salty streak, the acidity really kicks in in the finish. Nice round texture, but it could use a touch more complexity in the mid palate for a full score. As it is, it feels just a tad flat. Still very drinkable, though. Nice summer sipper.